Kamen Rider Blade
, is a Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series. It is the fourteenth installment in the Kamen Rider Series. It aired on TV Asahi from January 25, 2004 to January 23, 2005. It aired alongside '' for Super Hero Time 2004. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei. It is also the last Kamen Rider series to run on 60 fps. Along with the standard insect motif of the Kamen Rider series, Kamen Rider Blade also uses a playing card motif. Each Rider is assigned one of the suits from a deck of cards. The series catchphrases are and . Blade was later released on DVD by Toei. There were twelve volumes released with the first eleven having four episodes per DVD and the twelfth volume with five episodes. The average ratings of the series was 7.9%.http://www10.atwiki.jp/shichouseiko/pages/91.html Story Ten thousand years ago, a massive battle known as the Battle Royal was fought by fifty-two demons known as the Undead, each representing a species fighting for dominance over all others. The winner was the Human Undead, known as Category Two of Hearts, giving dominion of the Earth to humanity. In the present day, archaeologists discover the sealed Undead, and accidentally set them free. Thus, a new Battle Royal begins. Having developed the Rider System, based on the Joker's ability to copy sealed Undead, the organization BOARD (Board Of Archaeological Research Department) equips two young men, who become Kamen Riders: Kazuma Kenzaki and Sakuya Tachibana fight together as Kamen Rider Blade and Kamen Rider Garren to protect humans from Undead and seal them. Also fighting Undead is the mysterious Chalice, a Kamen Rider whose purpose is unknown. In addition, a young man struggles to free himself from the control of the sealed Undead powering his own Undead-made Rider System, fighting as Kamen Rider Leangle. Characters Kamen Riders TV Show Movie/Special-exclusive Novel-exclusive Stageshow-exclusive Shirai Residences *Shiori Hirose *Kotaro Shirai Jacaranda Cafe *Haruka Kurihara *Amane Kurihara BOARD *Kei Karasuma *Yoshito Hirose Other *Nozomi Yamanaka *Sayoko Fukasawa *Jin Ichinose *Rei Kaimioka *Tatsuya Yamaguchi *Michi *Umi Ikuhara Undead Category Ace *Beetle Undead *Spider Undead *Mantis Undead *Kerberos Category 2-10 Spade *Locust Undead *Deer Undead *Trilobite Undead *Jaguar Undead *Lion Undead *Boar Undead *Buffalo Undead *Scarab Undead *Lizard Undead Diamond *Bat Undead *Zebra Undead *Pecker Undead *Tortoise Undead Clover *Mole Undead *Jellyfish Undead *Squid Undead Heart *Plant Undead *Moth Undead *Centipede Undead *Dragonfly Undead *Shell Undead *Human Undead Royal Clubs Spade Diamond Clover Heart Jokers Trial Series *Trial B / Yoshito Hirose *Trial D *Trial F *Trial G Others Episodes Other media Manga # S.I.C. Hero Saga #Day After Tomorrow'' Novels # # Cast * : * , : * : * : * : * : * Haruka Kurihara: * Amane Kurihara: * Nozomi Yamanaka: * Kei Karasuma: * Sayoko Fukasawa: * Go Kiryu: * Yoshito Hirose: * Hiroshi Tennōji: * Isaka: * Miyuki Yoshinaga: * Yazawa: * Takahara: * Daichi: * Noboru Shima: * Shinmei: * Azumi: * King: * Hikaru Jō: * Kanai: * Voice of Rouzer: * Voice of King Rouzer: * Narrator: Suit actors * Kamen Rider Blade: * Kamen Rider Chalice: * Kamen Rider Garren: * Kamen Rider Leangle: , Songs ;Opening themes : *"Round ZERO~BLADE BRAVE " **Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi **Composition: Katsuya Yoshida **Arrangement: Akio Kondō **Artist: Nanase Aikawa **Episodes: 1-30 *"ELEMENTS" **Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi **Composition: Miki Fushisue **Arrangement: RIDER CHIPS & Cher Watanabe **Artist: RIDER CHIPS featuring Ricky **Episodes: 31-48 :: After his performance in "ELEMENTS," Ricky was made into RIDER CHIPS' permanent vocalist. ;Ending themes : * **Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi **Composition: Cher Watanabe **Arrangement: Akio Kondō **Artist: Ricky **Episodes: 2-23 *"Rebirth" **Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi **Composition: Yukari Aono **Arrangement: Cher Watanabe **Artist: Sakuya Tachibana (Kousei Amano) **Episodes: 23-28, 30, 47 *"Take it A Try" **Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi **Composition & Arrangement: Cher Watanabe **Artist: Hajime Aikawa (Ryoji Morimoto) **Episodes: 31, 32, 34, 36, 37, 40, 44 Video game A video game based on the series was produced by Bandai for the Playstation 2. It is a fighting game that featured many of the characters from the TV series. It was released only in Japan near the end of the TV series on December 9, 2004. Notes *This installment celebrates the 5th anniversary of the ''Heisei Rider Series. External links *'' '' at *[http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/仮面ライダー剣 Kamen Rider Blade] at Japanese Wikipedia *[http://web.archive.org/web/20161017110439/http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/blade/ Official TV Asahi Kamen Rider Blade website] *[http://www.toei-video.co.jp/DVD/sp21/blade.html Kamen Rider Blade on DVD] *[http://www.bandaigames.channel.or.jp/list/ps2_rider_blade/ Kamen Rider Blade] for the Playstation 2